


Study date

by valerian_valentine



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Dave and John are bros, M/M, No Homo, Tantrum, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valerian_valentine/pseuds/valerian_valentine
Summary: Dave has a study date with John but has to take his little brother, Dirk.
Relationships: John Egbert & Dave Strider, John Egbert/Dave Strider
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	Study date

**Author's Note:**

> This is Not Good? I don't really like it but here it is

Dave was annoyed before he even got to Egberts house. Okay, well, that was a kinda weird way to start this off.

See, Dave had a study sesh planned out at John Egbert's house. John was his best friend and they both needed help with school so boom, study sesh. While Dave was getting ready, his aunt dumped Dirk on him. He didn't mind, he liked Dirk but he would've liked a better warning.

See, Aunt Rose was supposed to be taking care of the twins because Dave's guardians were out working overtime and no one else was trusted around the mischievous little ones. Last time Dave babysat them he ended up getting them confused and boom, they tricked him into giving them each twenty cookies. Dave didn't even know how it happened. But Hal started running a fever randomly and had to be rushed to the hospital, leaving Dave with Dirk.

But now, Dave was carrying his little brother to John's house, two different backpacks on his shoulders and a small bag hanging around his neck. One backpack contained all of Dave's books and studying material, the other smaller backpack contained Dirks things and the small bag hanging from his neck contained even more of Dirks things. So. Many. Things.

Dave didn't really hate the fact he had to take care of Dirk, he just really didn't want John meeting Dirk yet. John hasn't met anyone from his family besides Rose and his bro. No one else. Rose already freaked him out, he could barely imagine how well John was going to handle Dirk. Dave just hoped Dirk wouldn't have a meltdown. Dirk always had… disturbing meltdowns. He was never violent, he just hardcore fucked with you. Nothing compared to Hal's meltdowns though… That kid could make a grown man cry and he has.

Dave sighed quietly to himself and stood in front of Johns house before looking over at Dirk who was already staring at him with a blank expression. Creepy.

"Okay you little demon. Remember, this is Johns house. We follow his rules. You're going to behave and be nice. We're going to stay for dinner, then Aunt Rose or someone will pick us up. Got it lil man?" Dave asked and bounced Dirk a little bit. Jeez. This kid was starting to get heavy.

Dirk gave him a simple nod, patting Dave's hand to signal he wanted to be set down. Dave obeyed Dirks request and set him down, holding his hand as they walked up to the door. Dave really hoped Dirk wasn't out of social energy already. A couple of people had stopped them on their way over there just to see how cute Dirk was and Dave already knew that kind of freaked Dirk out. The poor kid already had social anxiety despite being, like, six.

"Now. Do you wanna knock or should I?" Dave asked him, feeling nervous. He shouldn't be nervous. He's been to John's house hundreds of times. If Dave acted okay then Dirk would be fine. Dave felt a tiny hand pat his hip and he looked down, surprised when he saw Dirk making grabby hands.

"Upsies?" Dave questioned, picking up his little brother who immediately went for the doorbell when he got close enough to ring it. Dave chuckled. Dirk always loved doorbells. The two brothers heard some scuffling inside, a familiar voice shouting "Coming!" Before the door swung open, revealing a happy looking John whose face immediately fell when he saw Dirk. 

"Um Dave… Did you kidnap a child and give it anime shades?" John asked awkwardly, his voice still a bit high for their age. Nerd.

Dave bounced Dirk a little bit and set the kid down, letting him cling to his leg in an attempt to hide from John. "Nah, this is my little brother, Dirk. Dirk, this is John. He won't hurt you." Dave said, reaching down to lightly pap Dirk's head which did nothing to calm the child.

John tilted his head, his fluffy looking hair falling to the side from the motion. Fuck. Dave wanted to run his hands through that hair so badly. "Why'd you bring your brother? Did you get stuck with babysitting duty or something?" John asked, stepping aside so they could walk in.

Dave shrugged and tried to take a step but Dirk stayed frozen in place, clinging to Dave leg. Dave sighed and picked up his little brother again, walking slowly inside so Dirk wouldn't freak. "Nah, other kiddo is sick so my aunt had to take him to the doc. Can't leave the little man home alone so I had to take him. He's got a lot of anxiety and shit, mind if I show him around?" Dave asked, feeling slightly embarrassed that he had to do all of this instead of just walking in like he owned the place.

John nodded and closed the door behind them, watching Dirk closely. Both Dirk and John looked scared of each other. 

Dave set Dirk down along with their bags and kneeled down in front of Dirk, getting ready to do their routine.

"Okay lil man, look at me. This is Johns house. I know this place, I've been here hundreds of times. The only other person here is Johns dad and he's amazing. He's chill, he's gonna make us dinner and feed us. He'll even give you some treats, okay? Now, I'm gonna… learn with John. Do big kid stuff. You can stay with me or you can wander around. Don't go upstairs without me, tell me where you're gonna go, don't touch the pretty things and stay where I can see you. If you start feeling scared, tell me and we'll skedaddle like a pack of road runners in a cartoon. Got it?" Dave asked, doing a couple of hand movements to keep Dirks attention and to help him chill.

Dirk nodded quietly and took a deep breath, glancing over at John who smiled awkwardly. Dirk frowned in return and looked back at Dave. "I wanna be with you.." Dirk whispered quietly. Dave nodded and got up, picking Dirk back up into his arms.

"There we go. Sorry, John. Dirk is just kinda freaked cause his brother had to go to the hospital. Nothing wrong, just had a fever." Dave explained and picked their bags up, grunting from the effort.

John nodded. "Yeah, I understand. Um.. Do I need to put some little kids show on or something? To keep him entertained?" John asked, shifting awkwardly.

Dave sighed. Right. His little brother was a big weirdo. "You don't have to. He likes watching me study and shit. All the numbers and pictures interest him." Dave explained, shrugging. "Let's just sit in the living room and chill. My arms are hurting." Dave said and went over to the couch, plopping their bags down before throwing Dirk onto the other side of the couch. Dirk squeaked and burst into a fit of giggles, happy to just be yeeted.

John looked like he just had a heart attack. "Dave!! You can't just throw a child!" He squeaked out, his voice cracking. Dave raised an eyebrow and picked Dirk back up, yeeting him onto the other side of the couch.

"Sure you can. Kids love it. Just gotta make sure they have a soft place to land." Dave said and opened his backpack, dumping the contents onto the coffee table and plopped down. "Alright Egderp, let's get crackalackin." He said, making a clicking noise with his mouth.

John sighed. "Alright, let me get my books." John grumbled and went to the kitchen to grab his books and possibly some snacks.

Dirk plopped next to Dave, watching John leave. "He's pretty." Dirk said quietly, looking at Dave expectantly then frowned to himself like he was expecting someone else to say something. Right. Dirk and Hal usually tag teamed questions together. Dirk would start by saying something blunt and Hal would bombard with questions. Hal was always the chatty one.

Dave blushed darkly, already knowing what Hal would've asked him. "No, I'm not dating him and I'm not going to ask him out. John is just a friend and that's all." He said, crossing his arms. He didn't like John. John was just a friend.

Dirk raised an eyebrow and crossed his little arms, that tiny bastard. Instead of pressuring Dave to confess, he grabbed one of Dave's books and start flipping through the pages to look for pictures. John soon came back with his books and snacks as expected. He set the snacks and books down on the coffee table and sat next to Dave, still holding a history book.

"You ready to dive into one of the most useless subjects, Dave?" John asked, looking extremely reluctant.

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Yeah but history is actually pretty cool if your good at interpreting and if you think rats are cool." Dave said and crossed his arms.

"Dave. No one likes rats." John said bluntly, looking grossed out. Even Dirk gave an offended squeak but Dave quickly covered the kids mouth before the child went on a long ass rant about how cool rats were.

"Let's just get to studying." Dave said, ignoring the glare his little demon brother gave him.

  
  


Their studying was going well but Dave kept losing focus. John kept leaning over to see what Dave was talking about and he always got  _ so close _ and it was fucking with Dave's head. How could John be so close and not hear Dave's heart beating right out of his chest?

This was so ridiculous. John was his  _ best friend _ . John wasn't even aware of their thighs touching. John wasn't aware that his soft arms touched Dave's whenever he leaned against him. John wasn't aware of every little moment of physical touch they had. Not even Dirk was aware. Dirk was coloring in his coloring book sense their books bored him.

John wasn't even aware that Dave was radiating heat from all the little glances and touches. 

John was his best friend. His  **Best. Friend.** John wasn't interested. He wasn't gay. John liked girls. Not boys or Daves. Just friends. 

Dave was overwhelmingly thankful when Mr. Egbert told them dinner was ready and he could finally escape the awkwardness of crushing on his best friend.

They actually did some work together and got a lot done, Dirk didn't fuck anything up, they get free food and Dave didn't explode from all the repressing he was doing. Everything was going just fucking fine until Dirk started crying for some unknown reason and boy oh boy, Dirk was having a meltdown.

Dave was shocked. He was doing so well, what caused it??

"Woah, hey, little man, what's wrong? Are you okay? C'mon, tell me what's wrong?" Dave asked, kinda frantic.. Okay, really frantic. Instead of giving Dave an answer, Dirk just pointed to his plate like he expected Dave to just  _ know. _ This  _ fucking kid- _

"You… don't like the food?" Dirk shook his head, still crying quietly. "Don't like the plate?" Dirk shook his head again. "You don't like the type of food? Dude, you love mashed potatoes, peas and pork!" Dirk shook his head more violently this time and continued crying while John looked absolutely terrified. Mr. Egbert just looked concerned. Dave started going through the list of things Dirks gotten worked up about in the past, trying his hardest to figure it out.

"Oh! You're peas are touching your mashed potatoes?" Dave asked, earning him a pitiful sniffle and a head nod. Dave sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Okay. Let's make a deal. You eat two bites of peas that have mashed potato on them. If you don't like them, I'll eat the rest. How about that?" Dave asked, lightly rubbing Dirks back. Dirk sniffled and nodded, obediently taking two bites of the apparently unholy creation.

"Do you like it?" Dave asked, expecting a nod. Dirk shook his head again, looking up at Dave like he was being tortured.

"It's the texture, ain't it? Feels weird in ya lil mouth?" Dave questioned, getting another little nod from Dirk. Dave shrugged and scooped up all the peas that were touching the mashed potatoes and put them on his own plate, separating the mashed potatoes and peas so Dirk wouldn't cry again.

"There we go, problem solv-" Dirk started crying again, looking up at Dave pitifully. Dave rubbed his face, feeling beyond embarrassed. "Whaaaaaaaat?" Dave asked, giving the five year old a glare.

Dirk just cried harder from Dave's upset tone, looking to John for help. This was turning into a difficult evening.

"Um Dave, I think he's just upset.. Uh, little buddy, what are you upset about?" John asked Dirk kindly, gently wiping away Dirks tears.

Dirk sniffled and took a deep breath so he could try communicating. "I.. I dunno.." Dirk said, sniffling every couple of seconds.

Dave took a deep breath to try and steady himself. "Okay. You don't know what your upset about but the peas were the last straw. Are you scared?" He asked, getting a slow head shake. "Okay okay.. You aren't scared, you're obviously relaxed around John.. Are you worried about Hal? Cause he just has a fever, he'll be okay. You want me to call Aunt Rose? To ask her if Hal's okay?" Dave asked, crossing his arms. Dirk meekly nodded, looking extra sad. 

Dave sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket, calling Aunt Rose. "I'm sorry he's being dramatic, he's normally never separated from Hal this long. Hal's his brother." Dave explained, giving John and Mr. Egbert an apologetic look. Mr. Egbert smiled and John shrugged.

"I don't mind. Kids have tantrums, it's okay." John said, smiling at Dave. Dave felt his heart flutter and startled when he heard Aunt Rose's voice.

"Aunt Rose! Hey, Dirk is crying cause he's worried about Hal. Is everything okay?" Dave asked, ignoring the extremely worried look Dirk gave him.

"Hello Dave. Hal is doing just fine, he just has a small cold. I fear he may take my life later though as he has been glaring at me the whole way home. Would you like me to talk to Dirk? I can hear him crying i-" Before Aunt Rose could finish, unholy screeching filled his phone, causing Dave to hold it away from his ear in horror. The room was completely silent as his phone continued to scream.

The screaming stopped. Dave slowly pulled it back to his ear, shaking. Mr. Egbert looked ready to kill his phone and John looked like he was about to bolt while Dirk looked happy, making grabby hands towards the phone.

"A-Aunt Rose…?" Dave questioned quietly, scared the screaming would come back.

"Gimme Dirk!" Hal's voice sounded out inside, a pout evident in his voice. Dave quickly handed the phone over to Dirk, not wanting to refuse the hellspawn child.

"Hal!" Dirk chirped happily, holding the phone to his ear. It looked so big in his little baby hands. "I wasn't crying! My peas were touchin' my mashed potatoes so I got a little bit upset… Are you okay? Was the doctor scary? Did they fix you?" Dirk happily questioned, looking like he's never thrown a fit in his entire life.

Dave slowly looked up at John who was giving him an absolutely terrified look.

"What… was that?" John asked quietly, shaking.

"That was Hal. He gets a bit upset when Dirk is upset." Dave said, trying to stop his own shaking. He slowly got up, no longer hungry. Both him and John sneaked out of the kitchen, watching Dirk in case he turned into a monster.

The two sat on a big chair together, clinging to each other. The chair was big enough to fit both of them but they were squished right up next to each other and it would've been easier just to sit in each other's lap. 

"Hey Dave."

"Yes John?"

"I think your little brothers are demons."

"Yeah, I think so too."

"I ask this out of concern for my own safety and the safety of humanity so no offense but please never let them do that in my home ever again."

"No offense taken bro. I'll probably just never bring them over ever again."

"Thank you Dave."

"You're welcome John."

John chuckled, relaxing next to Dave. This was.. Cozy. They were once again thigh to thigh, arm to arm.. Fuck. This was driving Dave up the goddamn walls. John was so  _ fucking soft _ and his body was so warm, it felt like cuddling a goddamn marshmallow full of love. He wanted to cuddle John forever.

He jumped when his side was poked and looked over at the culprit, frowning.

"Dave! You gotta pay attention. I asked if you wanted to stay here and chill or let me get up and grab the remote?" John repeated his question and Dave quickly nodded, not trusting his voice. He got up and helped John out of the comfy chair, hoping John would ignore his shakiness. 

He did not.

"Dave! You're hands are freezing! Why didn't you tell me you were so cold?" John asked, frowning. He looked so worried, shit, his cute chubby cheeks squishing as he frowned. Dave wanted to kiss his cheeks.

He snapped out of it, suddenly finding himself behind wrapped up in a soft blanket by John before he was pushed onto the couch. 

"Woah, hey, uncool man. I was just chillin'." Dave said casually, trying to ignore his racing heart. 

John rolled his eyes and grabbed the TV remote, turning the TV on. He quickly selected some comedy show before laying down on top of Dave, squishing him.

"Suffer Dave!" John said in that adorably dorky voice and rolled over so he was big spooning Dave, hugging the skinny boys chest.

Fuck.

Shit.

Bitch.

John could definitely feel his heartbeat. He was so close. This… Actually, this was perfect. The feeling of Johns squishy body pressed against his back made him feel safe and warm. Like everything was right in the world. This was nice. Really nice.

Dave slowly relaxed against John, feeling content and warm. John always had that effect on him. Hopefully John felt the same way..


End file.
